Show I THE BIG BLUW UJ A Salt Lake Boy on the FloodBock S Explosion S Correspondence of THE HERALD The explosion at Hell Gate took place yeiterday at 1115 am and I was an eyewitness eye-witness to it At 930 the people began to take the elevated and horse cars for 1 the scene of action and by 10 oclock it i was almost impossibleto get up to the elevated stations the crowds were so great We could not so we jumped on arrivedat a car which was packed and about ten minutes to 11 Everybody seemed so eager to get a good position that before the car stopped they began jumping off and running as do the bathers at the Lake joined and after running about three blocks saw an old shed from which I could obtain a good clear view After with some difficulty and a little help I succeeded in getting on top I had a chance to look around and see how the people were arranged The space was black with them thousands thous-ands were onroofs and small elevations that could command any view Some stood a great distance off for fear of the falling debris At about 1115 there was a slight jarring of the earth a smothered report and then a rising up of the water which presented one of the grandest sights ever beheld The water had the appearance of an immense geyser about two blocks long and can be compared only with the Niagara Falls After the first general explosion there followed several smaller ones that caused the water to boil for a few minutes The tidal wave caused by the explosion washed over some small rock and carried off a little house and some advertising boards Immediately after the explosion the whole body of people sent up shouts of applause and hundreds hund-reds of small boats were seen coming from all directions to the spot where it occurred All seemed eager to go over the place and pick up some of the debris It was the grandest sight I ever beheld and I was not sorry that I went T A C NKW YORK October 11 1835 |